Fire: Part 2

Yep I am grilling again and I have come up with more thoughts about fire and writing.

Charcoal or wood fires are very similar to writing. Gas fires as long as there is gas in the bottle or the tank. You light ’em and forget ’em. Charcoal and wood requires you to take an active role in their well being. 

I was playing with my phone ,which is my main blogging tool,  not watching my fire and guess what it was quietly starving for fuel and air. Luckly enough I checked and corrected the situation before it was a dire problem. (My husband is chuckling at me watching the grill and blogging at the same time. I am blessed with a wonderful husband.) Writing is the same, you have to watch it, care for it, be patient with it. You carefully build your world, the way you build the center of your fire. Then you add characters, the way you add fuel. Carefully you craft your conflict and plot, just as you add a glowing ember to the tinder. Increasing the conflict between your characters and their interactions, the way you fan the ember to life. 

Once all the characters, plots, and subplots are in play, its the same as getting the fire good and hot, yellow flames and red hot coals. Rachetting up the story tension, fanning the flames higher. Then once the story has reached its climax and you begin wrapping up, the flames have died back but the coals are still hot. The end of the story and the coals have all died, waiting for the next time.

A fellow blogger The Crimson League found similarities of plot and story creation in the making of tuna salad. See I am not that odd a duck after all. Since writing about it I may reblog the post.